Busquin presents the ERA concept to the Belgian business community
Speaking at an information day organised by the Federation for Belgian enterprises in Brussels, Research Commissioner, Philippe Busquin, said he hopes the Commission will become known equally for its research programmes and for holding a political debate on research policy. Mr Busquin outlined his vision of a 'European Research Area' with which he has called on the Member States to open up their national research programmes to fully exploit Europe's academic and industrial potential in research and development. 'The objective is to arrive at a situation where researchers - academic or industrial - will have the feeling that they are not working only in Brussels, in Flanders or in Belgium, but also in Europe.' As R&D becomes increasingly important to the economy, Mr Busquin believes Europe should develop a political strategy to foster the best possible conditions for growth in this sector. Mr Busquin believes this should include policies that increase mobility for Europe's knowledge providers and industrialists and focus on strategic projects that will benefit most from a combined research effort in the Member States and beyond. Participation in the European Research Area would benefit Belgium, continued the Belgian Commissioner. The ERA would open up Belgian research and it would help bring the country's academic and industrial worlds closer together, he said. Pursuing the goals of the ERA could also help to encourage a public debate and dialogue on science and society and would stimulate innovation, he added.